sneak peek: juliet totten of poppies and posies

juliet totten, one half of floral/event design duo, poppies and posies, lives in this upper westside new york city brownstone apartment with her sister ellen and dog jake. the apartment has also become the headquarters for poppies and posies -where juliet and the team’s other half, sierra, spend days dreaming up magical environments and cool projects to create fabulous events. juliet is an avid collector – a trait inherited from her grandmother who travelled all over the world! in fact, many of juliet’s favorite objects are from her grandparents. (see the full set of photos from the oh darling photo shoothere!) {thanks ellen, juliet, sierra and jake! special thanks to whitney and dustin of oh darling photography for the lovely photos!} – amy a.

[photo above: The painting over the fireplace is a print from Madeline. The artist, Ludwig Bemelman, was a family friend and so he inscribed this print “Little Audrey and The Princeton Tiger” for my grandparents Audrey and Middy (he went to Princeton). I am also obsessed with the lamp. It belonged to my other set of grandparents and is an old torpedo shell converted into a lamp. It was a gift from the Artillery & Missile School in May 1967 when they were stationed there.]

[photo above: I bought this piece at Junk in Brooklyn and gave it a bright glossy coat of paint. Now it’s one of my favorite things! The top slides open and the inside lights up. It makes me feel like a ’60s Hollywood starlet! ]

[photo above: This window sill gets the most amazing sun during the day so I wanted to utilize it and have a ‘garden.’ I grew up gardening with my dad, who had a serious green thumb. I have some lavender, rosemary, and different ferns and mosses at the moment. This summer I want to try my hand at growing tomatoes and strawberries. I think the best smell in the world (well, besides coppertone sunblock) is tomato vine.]

[photo above: I’m in love with these bottles. I found the one on the right in a junk shop in New Foundland and carried it 2,500 miles across land and sea, literally. It still has liqueur peppered with flecks of gold leaf in it. Both are working music boxes and the one on the right plays ‘ma vie en rose’ and the little couple inside waltz in a tiny circle. Love it.]

[photo above: This is my room and the corner studio where Sierra and I do a lot of our day-to-day work stuff. My favorite thing on the mantle is an ink drawing from Alice in Wonderland that belonged to my grandmother.]

[photo above: I found this chair in my favorite antique emporium near my family’s cabin in Maine. It’s super mini and perfect for apartment living. The needlepoint pillow on it was done by my grandmother, Gagi. We seem to have a lot of hippos around the house, I think both of my grandmothers had a thing for them. My sister loves giraffes so we are a total zoo scene in here.]

[photo above: I love the aged mirror – it makes everything look romantic in reflection! The yellow flowers are craspedia. We’re a little in love with them right now at poppies and posies. The other flowers are old decoupage cutouts attached to wire found at the green market.]

[photo above: I love this table – it’s from an old Maine farmhouse. I use it as my drawing/ drafting/ sewing/ thinking table. Sierra and I try to keep fresh flowers in the workspace to inspire us and brighten our day a bit.]

[photo above: Sierra and I made this ‘faux terrarium’ lamp. I think we’re going to make a whole line of them with different vignettes inside. The lamp is sitting on top of an old tool case Sierra and I found while sourcing antique containers for a wedding. I love how industrial it is in comparison to the rest of space. Also we’re majorly into succulent bouquets right now. The ones hanging on the wall are alive and growing!]

[photo above: The headboard for this bed is actually a cool wickery folding screen found at an antique store and then mounted on the wall. The pillows on the left of the couch are old french grain bags stuffed with feathers. I covered the couch in an old kaleen I found in my parents house. My dad was a Middle Eastern specialist and lived in Turkey, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia and then we lived in Syria when I was tiny so our house is filled with amazing textiles. It’s great when I can sneak a few out of the house and into my apartment!]

[photo above: This is my sister’s desk. It looks out over the downstairs apartment’s amazing garden. I found the print over the desk in a flea market for her. It’s from the textile designer Vera Neumann and has her cute ladybug signature at the bottom.]

[photo above: I am not the greatest surfer but all of my siblings have taken up surfing and we like to get together to work on our skills when we can. I started when I was studying at NIDA in Sydney and totally fell in love with the sport. The Babar print next to the sofa was a gift. It was one of my favorite series of books when I was small and the colors are so cheerful.]

[photo above: This enamel-topped table has funny little squirrels peeking out throughout the design. My sis and I found the settee behind it at Target. It has heaps of storage inside, and I love the whole bench seating thing. The Bugatti print is from a flea market. The two prints above the table are menu’s from a café in Paris with illustrations by Georges Redon. They are another one of my grandmother’s items acquired when she live in Paris in the ’30s]

my favorite kind of sneak peek. Vignettes of brilliance, and then with a wide shot you realize that this kinda looks like your apartment, just with a few choice possessions that are found or acquired from family. The (1) Madeline print and the giraffe head and (2) the lemon tree and the green cabinet together are my favorite things.

yes, that peacock fireguard is really something! i love this house, it’s got so much personality and interesting objet without looking cluttered or messy. i really love reading where people find their treasures!

My mom has the same bottle (the one on the right). She had it for her 8th birthday, but obviously couldn’t drink it… french people give strange gift sometime ! Apparently the liquor was purple and yes, it had golden leaf inside !

You have a beautiful apartment, full of interesting and unique items. I especially liked the giraffe trophy head, it reminded me of a series of plaster heads that I had seen on etsy but can no longer find. Would love to know where you bought it so that I resume my search.

What a great space full of personality. I love that you make every piece have a story behind it. It’s a great reminder that color can be brought in different ways, seemingly not to coordinate, but then the end result is modernly whimsical and personal. Plus you can keep adding to it over the years. I hope they enjoy for a very long time!

I love love love the room! I also love when people use things other than vases for vases- like the vintage looking pitcher. I have a thing for bottles too and I think its awesome to collect ones that have a story behind them! My favorite part is the “garden”- no room is complete without live plants!
The whole place is inspiring!

I adore the Madeline print and your personal connection to it makes it even more special. I love Bemelman’s illustrations and have often wondered what the pages would like tiled as wallpapered in a room. I think the line in the book goes “to the lions in the zoo, Madeline says pooh-pooh”.

I’m so in love with your style, all the vintage, the colors, the stories. I have to ask about the green bar…Did you paint that yourself and if so, how (roller, brush, sponge, spray paint, type of paint)?

also I am a huge devotee of Ludwig Bemelman..wonderful artist..found some correspondence with charming illustrations when I worked at the Library of Congress..in the Manuscript office..how cool to have that connection.

Omg beautiful! Love all the luminosity of this place.
I was shocked to see those bottles tough… I have the left one! You can hear the “The Love Story” theme by turning a little windy key on the botton, right? I love it so much. It was a gift from a dear aunt who isn’t with us anymore. I’m very happy to see that another person has the same bottle as I :)
From Brazil, best wishes,
Daniela

LOVE your place! I’ve just been browsing the internet for a new flat at home and got totally depressed with the price of these tiny, old fashioned, student-y hovels that are for rent…then i ended up here….and you’ve totally cheered me up with all that color and personality and st-uff!!! Thanks!

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